Blackboard Announces 2007 Greenhouse Exemplary Course Winners and Greenhouse Grant Recipients

Greenhouse Grant for Virtual Worlds Unveiled to Foster Educational Innovation in 'New Places'BOSTON, MA, Jul 11, 2007 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX News Network) -- BbWorld '07, Blackboard Annual Users Conference -- On day two of BbWorld(TM) '07, the annual Blackboard Users Conference, Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB), a leading provider of educational enterprise software and services, announced the winners of its annual Greenhouse Exemplary Course Program(TM) and Greenhouse Grants(TM). Both programs are designed to foster educational innovations across the Blackboard global e-Learning community.

Additionally, Blackboard introduced a new grant opportunity: The Greenhouse Grant for Virtual Worlds(TM), which will award a single $25,000 grant to promote the integration of virtual worlds such as Second Life and Active Life into teaching and learning.

"The Greenhouse programs are an important opportunity for Blackboard to encourage and recognize educational innovation," said Michael Chasen, president and CEO of Blackboard. "With millions of people teaching and learning every day on Blackboard technology, we have an important role in facilitating ways for our global community of users to connect, collaborate and innovate. We applaud all of the client judges, directors and submitters who took part in this year's program."

Blackboard Greenhouse Exemplary Course Program:

The Greenhouse Exemplary Course Program recognizes faculty who develop technologically rich and pedagogically sound courses. Submissions to this year's program were reviewed by a panel of more than 100 client judges located around the world, over the course of more than 1,000 hours. Winning entries represent the very best of e-Learning, and provide stellar examples of course design, student interaction, assessment and learner support.

This year's ten winners including the name of the institutions, courses and instructors for the Greenhouse Exemplary Course Program include:

Capella University
Public Speaking
Submitted by Nick White and Adonica Aune
Governors State University
Introduction to Online Teaching
Submitted by Jan Engle
Iowa Department of Education
General Biology
Submitted by Gail Wortman
Kamehameha Schools
Hawaiian Pacific Literature
Submitted by Kelly Dukelow and Christy Sato
Regent University
Web Design and Publishing
Submitted by Tracy Stewart
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Nuclear Phenomena for Engineering Applications
Submitted by Don Steiner
University of Houston-Clear Lake
The Sacred Feminine in Latin America
Submitted by Teresa Van Hoy and Azalea Boehm
University of Pittsburgh
Allied Health Education
Submitted by Joanne Nicoll and Carol Washburn
Utah State University
Intro to Deafness/Blindness
Submitted by Nanette Sorensen and Linda Alsop
Virtual School
Cultural Identity Through Literature
Submitted by Lisa Pupo

"The Greenhouse Exemplary Course Program has allowed me to reflect on my class and make changes to better enrich student lives beyond the traditional classroom," said Lisa Pupo, instructor and course designer at Spring-Ford High School in Pennsylvania, a member of the Virtual High School consortium. "As an educator it doesn't get any better! Thank you for this honor."

Best Practices Winners:

The following entries have been selected as demonstrating best practices for teaching and learning:

Capella University
Communication Strategies for IT Professionals
Submitted by Liz Anderson and Eileen Dittmar
Best practice for exemplary development and use of a rubric that aligns
with course objectives
Iowa State University
Computer Literacy and Applications
Submitted by Susan Chang
Best practice for exemplary migration of research online while preserving
student satisfaction and success
Florida State University
Introduction to Sociology
Submitted by Isaac Eberstein
Best practice for exemplary student engagement through clickers (PRS) and
other technologies in a large course
Madison Area Technical College
News Writing and Reporting
Submitted by Larry Hansen
Best practice for exemplary use of wiki tools in an online magazine
Southbank Institute of Technology
Communication in the Workplace
Submitted by Tanya Wolfe and Robyn Horsman
Best practice for exemplary use of Page Tracker in a course

Blackboard Greenhouse Grant Program:

The Blackboard Greenhouse Grant aims to build a collective body of knowledge, and encourage clients to facilitate best practices using technology in the educational environment.

2007 Greenhouse Grant recipients are:

--  Seneca College (Toronto) and Grand Rapids Community College (Michigan)
    Advanced System Tracking & Repoting Building Block
    Submitted by Santo Nucifora, Seneca College and Eric Kunnen,
    Grand Rapids Community College

This new tool will help administrators and other campus decision makers use data from Blackboard to assess the success of a Blackboard installation.

--  Deakin University (Australia)
    Open-Source Social Software Tools Integration
    Submitted by Ian Smissen

This new tool will allow students and faculty to interact with each other through social networking tools available in the Blackboard e-Learning platform.

Greenhouse Grant recipients receive $25,000 to fund and support their winning proposals.

Blackboard Greenhouse initiatives are developed and supported by Blackboard Connections, an online hub for members of the Blackboard community to collaborate and share best practices, to deepen their knowledge and expertise in all things e-Learning.

More information on all of the Greenhouse initiatives is available at www.blackboard.com/greenhouse.

About Blackboard Inc.

Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB) is a leading provider of enterprise software applications and related services to the education industry. Founded in 1997, Blackboard enables educational innovations everywhere by connecting people and technology. Millions of people use Blackboard everyday at academic institutions around the globe, including colleges, universities, K-12 schools and other education providers, as well as textbook publishers and student-focused merchants that serve education providers and their students. Blackboard is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia.

Blackboard

Educate. Innovate. Everywhere.(TM)

Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for Blackboard and other statements containing the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will," and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including the factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of our Form 10-Q filed on May 4, 2007 with the SEC. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of July 11, 2007. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause the Company's views to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to July 11, 2007.

Senior Manager Public Relations at Blackboard:
Melissa Chotiner
Blackboard Inc.
202-463-4860 ext. 2404
Email Contact

Media Contact, Fleishman-Hillard:
Amy Storey
Fleishman-Hillard Inc.
+1 202 828-8819

SOURCE: Blackboard Inc.